TONY Blair said yesterday that he believed agreement on a Middle East peace deal was possible "faster than people think".
The former prime minister, now an international envoy on the Middle East, said he thought a breakthrough was on the cards in the negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
At a press conference of the Middle East Quartet – the United
Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union – Mr Blair said he believed there was now a new focus within the international community on achieving a peace settlement.
"The reason why I remain, in the end, not merely determined but also believe that we can achieve a breakthrough, is that there is a focus now, both on improving the Palestinian security capability and on getting economic and social development going," he said.
He said if progress could be made on improving the situation on the ground in both Gaza and the West Bank, which remains under the control of the Palestinian authority, then the political negotiations could move ahead.
"This political negotiation can move forward better and faster than people think at the present time but it requires an enormous commitment and effort," he said.
On Gaza, Mr Blair insisted that, despite the difficult situation, it should be possible to end the current deadlock. "Everybody knows that the situation in Gaza is terrible," he said.
"But there is a different and better way through.
"That is for the terror attacks and the rocket attacks and the smuggling of weapons to stop, for the action, therefore, by Israel also to stop and for a progressive lifting of the restrictions and the opening of the border."
The full article contains 284 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
